November Hardware

Computer hardware prices have been in a free fall lately, especially where video cards and RAM are concerned.  Now that the GTX 460 has been out for a few months, and AMD has provided some competition in the form of the HD 6850, prices on the 460 have fallen dramatically.  You can usually find a 768MB version for under $150, and the 1GB version for around $175.  The 6850 is still hovering around $200 because it's so new.  In a month or two we will see better stock and more sales/rebates, which should bring it closer to the GTX 460.

Right now, there is little reason for a budget-minded gamer to purchase anything beyond a GTX 460 1GB.  However, this will probably change with the introduction of AMD's HD 6950 next month.  Below, I've constructed two basic gaming machines using Newegg.com.  They might be inexpensive, but they are both quite powerful and extremely overclockable.

Bargain Gaming Rig

AMD Phenom II X3 715 Black Edition Triple-Core Processor - $80
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - $25 (after $10 rebate)
GIGABYTE GA-880GM-UD2H AM3 AMD 880G Micro ATX Motherboard - $80
PNY XLR8 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 - $50 (after $30 rebate)
EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 Video Card - $140 (after $30 rebate)
W.D. Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s H.D. - $70
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case - $60
APEVIA ATX-JV650W 650W ATX12V Power Supply - $30 (after $25 rebate)
Sony Optiarc Black 24X 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - $20

Discount: $25 ($25 Case/MB Combo)
Shipping: $5
Total: $535

This machine has tremendous potential.  At stock, it will play all the latest games smoothly and at high detail.  You may be able to unlock the fourth CPU core using the motherboard's ACC feature.  Add a modest overclock to the CPU and a more significant overclock to the GPU, which it is easily capable of, and you'll be set for a long time.  Note that the motherboard supports firewire.

Budget Gaming Rig

Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor - $209
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - $25 (after $10 rebate)
MSI P55-GD65 USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard - $140 (after $40 rebate)
PNY XLR8 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 - $50 (after $30 rebate)
Palit NE5X460SF1102 GeForce GTX 460 Sonic 1GB Video Card - $165 (after $35 rebate)
Seagate Barracuda ST31000528AS 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s H.D. - $70
Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case - $70
APEVIA ATX-AQ700W-BK 700W ATX12V Power Supply - $40 (after $25 rebate)
Sony Optiarc Black 24X 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - $20

Discount: $75 ($65 CPU/MB Combo, $10 Case/HD Combo)
Shipping: $2
Total: $716

The most significant improvement here is the better processor.  On top of that, we have a slightly better video card, power supply, and case.  The motherboard supports both USB 3.0 and firewire.

Please note: If you're not seeing the prices listed here, make sure you've properly applied the combos, downloaded your rebate forms, and entered the promotion codes (if any).  I plan on making a separate post that discusses these three forms of saving more money from Newegg's already low prices.